Switch stand



May 19, 1925. 1,538,448

N.' E. SALSICH SWITCH STAND Filed D60. 4. 1924 Y INVENTOR BY v M mums Patented May 19, 1925.

*UNITEDIV'STAT NEIL shLsIcn, or BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

SWITCH STAND.

Application filed December 4, 1924; Serial No. 753,784.

'1 all whom it mag concern Be it known that 1, NEIL E. SALSICH, a

' citizen of the United States, and residing at Bethlehem, Lehigh County,

Pennsylvania,

State of have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switch Stands,

, oi which the following is a specification.

ties to accordance with my invention,

tern'iina'l or foot portions of the base meni-f that such portions ex provide for integral My invention relates to switches, and

more particularly to throw, positive, dead-center those of the paralleltype,and it has toran object to provide a switch stand of this character which shall be strong, which shall have the latching devices for the actuthereof constituted as integral parts of the stand, and which shall present relatively greater bearing area for contact with ties than has heretofore been customary Switch stands of the general type to which my in'iprovel'i'ielit is applicable have heretofore included a base member which is of substantially uni'iornrwidth from end to end, terminal portions oi the. base member beingspiked toadjac'ent ties and the p the interi'nediate portion constituting a part of .the housing structure for switch mecha of this type,

wherein the actuatingshatt' or spindle eX-= tends laterally or horizontally and a lever is attached to such shaft or spindle, it has been ciilstomai 'y practice to provide separate devices which are spiked to the latching I hold the lever in its her to such an extent positions In I widen the tend laterally of the switch stand beyond the outer end of the bearing for theactuating shaft vice maybeing.

or spindle so I that the latching dc a part of the base Accordingly,"therefore, it is an object of my invention to provide a base meat 7 member castber for a switch of the type having alever movable in a subst'ant1ally vertlcal plane which is sutiiciently the lever. Apparatus wide at its ends to latch-mg devices for made in accordance with my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part 0t this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational View of a switch stand incorporating my improved type of base member;

F 2 1s a plan view ot my member;

improved base to by bolts 12.-

base member have mating upper surface of the base member.

laterally ot the Fig; 3- is a side elevation of the struc-' ture shown in Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 4. is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings 01- a better understanding of my invention, 1 show a switch stand including a base member 10 and a cover 11 adapted to be secured there- The cover has securedto the top thereof a sleeve member 13. for the target shaft 14, the latter carrying, at its upper end, a target 15. The cover and the portions 16 and 1.7 which extend laterally thereof and deiine a bearing for the actuating shaft or spindl 18, to which is secured an actuating lever 19-. The structure so far described is old and well known in the art;

and, as my invention is concerned with cer tain novel features of the base member 10,

.t'u'rther description of the switch stand in part 17 ot the bearing tor the actuating shaft or spindle 18. The housing, at 20, is

comprised of the base member and a wall which extends upwardly therefrom so that the bearing parts 17 are arranged above the In order to distribute the material of the base mem her to the best advantage, it will b seen that the foot plates 21 are provided with boundary'r'ibsll which greatly strengthen the base member, particularly in a transverse direction. The. end portions 21 of the base member are made suiticiently .wide so that they extend laterally of the bearingfor the actuating shaft or spindle in order that latching devices, at 22, may be cast integrally with the base member.

in other words, I have devised a base member which is substantially Ushaped, the

legs of which extend a suili'cient distance switch construction to pro: vide integral latching device s actuating lever 19.

(he relativelywide terminal portions 21 of the base member constitute feet for the switch stand and the greater width over customary practice provides for increased bearing area on the ties with consequent less wear of the latter. Furthermore, sincethe spike openings 23 may be spaced further 22 for the 1 apart widthwise of the stand, the spikes operate more effectively in holding the switch stand in place. Also, if the stationary parts of the latching devices 22 are cast integrally with the base member, separate installation and maintenance of the latching devices is unnecessary and it is at all times assured that the latching devices shall register with the path of movement of the actuating lever.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that my improved type of base member construction is advantageous for the following reasons: It provides a stronger supporting structure for the stand with the result that, even though the target shaft and the surrounding sleeve extending upwardly from tee cover should be bent over or broken, the stand possesses-suliicient strength to permit of the deformation or breakage of these parts without permitting of the upsetting of the stand or the breakage of the principal parts thereof, with the result that the stand may remain intact and hold switch points in a set position even though the superstruc ture of the stand should be wrecked or demolished. Since the terminal or foot portions of the base member are made relativewide, the effective bearing area of the stand on adjacent railway ties is greatly increased with the result that spikes may hold the base member in position more effectively and wear on the ties is diminished. The outstanding advantage of my improved base member construction is, however, that the latching devices may be cast integrally with the terminal portions, thereby facilitating installation of the stand and assuring at all times that the latching devices shall be aligned with the operating lever. A further advantage of this integral construction of the base member and latching devices is that a less number of spikes is required for all of the switch parts and separate installation and maintenance of the latching devices is unnecessary.

,lVhile I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- (ers Patent is:

1. In a switch stand, the combination of a base member having an intermediate lower housing portion defined by the base member and by an upwardly extending wall integral therewith and having foot plate portions adapted to reston adjacent ties, a

lower bearing member carried by one side of the wall and spaced above the upper surface of the base member, an upper housing portion secured to the wall, an. upper bearin member carried by the upper housing portion and mating with the lower bearing member, an actuating shaft fitting the bearing members, a lever connected to the shaft, said foot plates extending laterally beyond the outer ends of the bearing members and having spike-receiving openings adjacent to the ends thereof, integral latch posts carried by the lever side ends of the foot plates, and lever latching means carried by the latch posts.

2. In a switch stand, the combination of a base member having an intermediate lower housing portion defined by the base member and by an upwardly extending wall integral therewith and having foot plate portions adapted to rest on adjacent ties, said foot plate portions having upwardly extending boundary ribs, a lower bearing member carried by one side of the wall and spaced above the upper surface of the base member, an upper housing portion secured to the wall, and an upper bearing member carried by the upper housing portion and mating with the lower bearing member, said bearing members forming a bearing for an actuating shaft and said foot plates extending laterally beyond the outer end of the bearing and having spike-receiving openings adjacent to the ends thereof.

3. In a switch stand, the combination of a base member having an intermediate lower housing portion defined by the base memher and by an upwardly extending wall integral therewith and having terminal foot plate portions adapted to rest 011 adjacent ties, a lower bearing member carried by one side of the wall and spaced above the upper surface of the base member, an upper housing portion secured to the wall, an upper bearing member carried by the upper housing portion and mating with the lower bearing member, and superstructure including an upwardly extending sleeve carried by the upper housing portion, said bearing members forming a bearing for an actuating shaft and said foot plates extending laterally beyond the outer end of the bearing and each having spike-receiving openings including openings adjacent to the ends thereof, whereby the switch stand may be maintained in place with wreckage of its superstructure.

4. In a switch stand, the combination of a base member having an intermediate lower housing portion defined by the base memher and by an upwardly extending wall in tegral therewith and having terminal foot plate portions adapted to rest on adjacent ties, a lower bearing member carried by one side of the wall and spaced above the upper surface of the base member, an upper extending laterally beyond the outer end of housingportion secured to the Wall, and an the bearing and each having spike-receivupper bearing member carried by. the uping openings adjacent to the endsthereof. 10 per housing portion and mating With the In testimony whereof hereunto aflix my 5 lower bearing member, said bearing memg i l fills 2n day f D c m er, 1924:.

bers cooperatingto form a bearing for a switch actuating shaft and said foot plates NEIL E. SALSICH. 

